On Sep 15, 5:34 pm, Roy Schestowitz <newsgro...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> ____/ Rex Ballard on Saturday 15 September 2007 18:45 : \____
>
> > They have had a project, I think it's code-named "Synergy",
Roy, thanks for the correction, it was Singularity.
> > which is essentially an attempt to create a port of the
> > BSD kernel in C#.
>
> They also have Project Singularity, which produced
> a paper in April 2007. This spurred a lot of speculation.
> Microsoft sheer hatred for GPLv3 also led to
> speculation about Microsoft's intent to control
> and sell Linux.
Microsoft may be hedging it's bets on several fronts. Microsoft
didn't think that the ability to perform rapid context switching was
that much of a priority, and therefore put Singularity on the "back
burner". The developers did produce a video on Singularity, which
appears to be yet another version of "VaperWare". Legally, it exists
in the lab, but it won't be practical for a decade - if ever.
If Linux does get a strong foot-hold, Microsoft doesn't want to be
excluded from this market, and doesn't want to be forced to open
source any more than it absolutely has to.
The experience of IBM, Oracle, SAP, Seibel, Borland, Activision,
Electronic Arts, RealNetworks, Adobe, and numerous others demonstrates
that it is possible to enter the Linux market without having to
publish ALL of your software as GPL software.
The good news for Microsoft is that about 70% of the work has already
been done for them. WINE has the ability to run many Windows
applications, including Windows XP applications, but the machine has
to be licensed for Windows XP and there are "bridge" libraries that
are available from CrossOver and Win4Lin that permit Linux users to
run most Windows applications on machines sold with OEM Windows XP
Licenses.
Microsoft attempted to kill the Linux market by adding new
restrictions to the Vista license that expressly forbid running Vista
libraries on anything but Vista. The tactic appears to have
backfired. Microsoft's current fear is that all of the customers
ordering machines with XP instead of Vista might actually become Linux
boxes.
Microsoft could actually profit from Linux. They would still be able
to sell XP, or a Linux friendly Vista, to OEMs, they would also be
able to sell support for the XP or Linux friendly Vista, and might
even be able to "double dip" - getting additional fees for support of
Windows as a Linux application or extension.
Since Microsoft officially released Vista, it appears that about 30
million copies have actually been deployed (market share of installed
base has grown to about 3% since January 31). Mac has grown by about
20 million copies (3% to 5%). Linux has grown by about 20 million
copies (Linux+Other has grown fom 4% to 7%).
Microsoft has better survey techniques (MSN, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC.com,
Monster.com, Expedia, CarPoint, et al), and they may be seeing even
higher levels of growth.
For Microsoft, keeping the Microsoft API used in Windows available in
Linux could become critical. If Windows does become a "second system"
or virtualized system, it could impact demand for Microsoft Office,
Microsoft Project, Microsoft Outlook, IE, Access, SQL Server, and
numerous other Microsoft applications.
It would appear that Microsoft is also losing Mind-share as well.
Customers are less interested in the more proprietary features of .NET
and are often testing .NET applications on MONO. Others have given up
on .NET completely and switched to Java 2, AJAX, PHP, J2EE, and other
platform independent tools.
Ironically, Microsoft may have more at risk if the court chooses NOT
to extend the settlement, because all of those who have been
considering a switch would be ready to declare all-out open war
against Microsoft in the absence of such court supervision.
Rex Ballard
http://www.open4success.org
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